The main question: Who originally pulled the plug on the Twin Cities Public Television airing of Troubled Waters?

Here’s Bruininks:

It is important for me to acknowledge that Vice President Himle was asked by the Bell Museum to review the film, and she raised questions and concerns about it in her capacity as Vice President of University Relations.

Here’s Weller’s version:

“When I was stepping on a plane Sept. 8 to go to Europe to give a presentation, I received a phone call that the (Twin Cities Public Television) broadcast had been canceled. And so then I’m on a plane, I arrive and I’m checking e-mails, trying to find out what happened. With the limited information I had, I decided that if the university was so concerned about the film … then we needed to go back and ensure that we had followed all our internal procedures, so that I could … really be able to stand behind (the film). And so my decision to postpone the screening at the Bell Museum was based on the fact that the broadcast was canceled. .. They were linked.”

So did the Bell tell Himle? Or did Himle/the university tell the Bell? Or is something missing from these two accounts?

About the blogger

Alex Friedrich reports on higher education issues for MPR News. Among the stories he has covered: the fall of the Berlin Wall, aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, 2003 Moscow suicide bombing and 2004 presidential elections in the Republic of Georgia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s in European political economy from the London School of Economics.